© AP Photo/ Carolyn Kaster Politics
Hillary Clinton is often perceived as a candidate that, if elected next
US president, will pursue a more muscular foreign policy, particularly
with regard to Russia, China and the Middle East, but her record points
to a string of troubling decisions that have left several countries in
chaos.
The former US Secretary of State has often referenced her experience
that ostensibly makes her particularly fit to be America's next
commander in chief. Indeed, Clinton's extensive foreign policy record
speaks for itself, but the picture it paints is far more complex and
troubling. It is this record that prompted journalist Diana Johnstone to
crown Hillary "the queen of chaos."
"As President Obama likes to say, Hillary Clinton has more national
security experience than perhaps any previous nominee.
But that is no
endorsement because she is responsible in part for the global disorder
that has broken out on Mr. Obama's watch," the WSJ asserted.
Jonathan Cristol made the same point in July, saying that "the truth is
that President Obama's foreign policy failures are numerous – Libya,
Russia, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, post-deal Iran – while successes have
been few. … As secretary of state, Clinton was a key player in many of
these failures."
What She Doesn’t Remember Could Fill a Graveyard
© Sputnik/ Ted Rall
What She Doesn’t Remember Could Fill a Graveyard
The implications of Hillary's foreign policy decision are particularly
evident in the Middle East. Clinton voted for the 2003 US invasion of
Iraq, although she has since backtracked on the issue, saying it was a
mistake.
The former US Secretary of State also championed NATO's
military intervention into Libya, an operation that has left the country
in a state of chaos that remains unresolved to date.
In addition, Clinton has long called for a more muscular foreign policy,
particularly in Syria, fueling concerns that the US will launch a
large-scale military operation in the war-torn Arab country if she moves
into the White House on January 20, 2017.
"In the case of Clinton there hasn't been a major foreign policy
decision in the Middle East she pushed for that didn't end up being a
disaster both at home and the countries she advocated meddling in,"
analyst Adam Johnson wrote in January, adding that the Democratic
hopeful "has only grown more bellicose and hawkish" since the Iraq vote.
The image seen round the world of Secretary of State Colin Powell and
his mock vial of anthrax,which he held up during a presentation before
the UN on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction program, February
5, 2003.
Powell Email to Clinton on How to Dodge Security Rules Released
This is not to say that Hillary Clinton will actively pursue similar
policies if she gets elected.
"Even if Mrs. Clinton wants to restore US global leadership, she might
not have the means given her desire to continue Mr. Obama's fiscal
priorities. She wants to expand domestic spending and entitlements in a
way that would inevitably starve defense," the WSJ observed. "Her
likeliest path as President is continuing to retreat at a somewhat
slower pace."
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